EL DORADO (AP) — What started as an evaluation of several dogs turned into a full-blown partnership as the Union County Animal Protection Society agreed to partner with the Arkansas Department of Correction’s Paws In Prison to set up a program in the Tucker Unit exclusively for its shelter animals.

Sandra Maguire, UCAPS board president, told the El Dorado News-Times this partnership is a win-win situation, not only for the two programs, but also for animals and humans alike.

“It’s a double win because we’re giving dogs a second chance and we’re allowing people to have a second chance to develop skills,” she said. “Not only are we improving the lot of mankind, we’re improving the lot of the animal.”

Shea Wilson, ADC’s communication director and former El Dorado resident, said the partnership has been a dream of hers since PIP was established.

“When I went to the Department of Correction and started working with this program, I was determined to figure out a way to involve UCAPS and build a partnership in South Arkansas,” Wilson said. “When you adopt through an animal shelter, the dogs aren’t obedient or trained. This will be an added bonus for UCAPS to be able to say ‘We have these dogs ready for adoption and they are socialized. They know a few tricks. They are house broken, which are all sometimes barriers for people wanting to adopt a dog.”

Maguire said that the equipment and supplies to start the program in Tucker have already been donated, and UCAPS has sent letters to various companies for corporate backing.

Wilson said it will take around $325 to put a dog through the program — which covers the cost of the training completely.

UCAPS will also need an additional $125 per animal to pay for spay or neuter costs as well as vet examinations.

At a UCAPS board meeting on Tuesday, Maguire announced that the Tucker program could start once funding is established, perhaps as early as a few weeks. But one very lucky dog will get a head start as Carrie Kessler, PIP trainer, selected Gracie Lou to enter the Pine Bluff program.

Tanja Jackson, UCAPS shelter manager, said Gracie Lou is a typical dog that came in from Animal Control in Smackover. But Jackson said, Gracie Lou’s deposition was far from typical.

“She was so sweet from the very beginning. We’d take her to the nursing home. We had her for Halloween a little costume and people just loved her. We took her to the fair and she was a hit.”

Along will Gracie, a golden retriever mix named Goldie was also selected to start the program at a later date.

Wilson said Kessler assessed each dog for the program using a number of criteria, including such things as sociability, how well the dog behaves and interacts with humans and whether or not it’s a guarder.

Gracie and Goldie passed with flying colors.

“The way she does that is by giving it a pig’s ear or a raw-hide toy — a high valued treat — and seeing how it reacts when she pulls it away from it. If a dog growls or bristles up, that is not a good sign,” Maquire said. “We’ve been fortunate because there several very good dogs here.”

Although excitement was focused on the PIP program, Maguire said an additional partnership was forged between UCAPS and the rescue group Last Chance Arkansas — a group to which Kessler is also strongly connected — to send animals to a shelter in New York City.

“The reason New York is because they don’t have a large animal population,” Wilson said. “This is another partnership forged today that will help UCAPS in addition to Paws In Prison.”

Maguire said the dogs that will be shipped to New York will also be trained before being adopted.

Kessler assessed an additional seven dogs she felt would be adopted immediately.

Kessler said as many as 10 dogs will be shipped to New York every other month.

Even with the new partnerships, Maguire said UCAPS is still stressing the importance of volunteers to help socialize the other dogs for adoption or acceptance into the program.

“We need volunteers to help socialize the dogs, take them for a walk, just pet them and play with them,” she said. “Some of these dogs, they get human contact when the employees go in and clean the kennels and feed them, but not that ‘I love you. I really care for you’ attention.”

Maguire said Kessler is also looking into coming down to the shelter to train anyone interesting in PIP style training.